The formation of gold-rich seafloor sulfide deposits: Evidence from the Beebe hydrothermal vent field, Cayman Trough

Abstract

The Beebe vent field (BVF) in the Cayman Trough has built an auriferous massive sulfide deposit on the ultraslow spreading mid-Cayman spreading center. The genesis of auriferous sulfide deposits at mid-ocean ridges is not fully understood, although there is a growing recognition that slow and ultraslow spreading centers are conducive to gold mineralization. Analysis of hydrothermal precipitates from the BVF indicates that the highest gold contents are present within “beehive diffusers,” which have developed a highly porous pyrrhotite framework. The beehive structure allows vent fluids to effuse slowly while allowing ingress of seawater to cool the fluid. The prevalence of pyrrhotite in the beehive samples, lack of sulfates, association between pyrrhotite and gold grains, and results of thermodynamic modeling suggest gold precipitation occurred under highly reduced conditions even during mixing with seawater. In contrast, high-temperature chimneys, with a single orifice, maintain high temperatures to the primary vent orifice and much of the gold is lost to seawater. Despite this, both chimney types are relatively gold-enriched, which points to a further underlying cause for high gold at the BVF such as interaction of hydrothermal fluids with ultramafic lithologies in the basement. The final gold composition of the deposit is partially controlled by loss of gold during mass-wasting of the material, with gold depletion most prevalent in blocks formed at beehive-type chimneys. The BVF demonstrates that the overall gold content of a massive sulfide deposit is the sum of basement, precipitation, and surface processes.